Jacob didn't run away from conflict, but it always felt different when he saw it in his own family. He could go to town and watch friends or couples bicker and argue all day long, and he wouldn't get tired of it. But when the fighting was going on in his own home, well, it was a lot different.
He'd seen his parents fight before, but never like this. Usually Dad wanted to do something impulsive, Mom said he would regret it, and then she pursed her lips, crossed her arms, and watched as he did it anyway. Then, depending on what followed, whoever was in the right would say 'I told you so', and then they'd move on.
This fight was different. Right now his mom was the one wanting to do something stupid, and his dad was the one who thought she was a fool.
Jacob didn't want to think badly of his mom, but he thought she was wrong too. He knew that she wanted to be on the good side with Everafters, but did that really have to include the Big Bad Wolf?
Jacob was a little bit curious if the old man that the Wolf was pretending to be right now could actually be trusted. If any other family was volunteering to house him for a test-period, he would be all for it. Why did it have to be their family? And why did his parents have to fight about it?
He didn't know what he hated more about this situation. That the Wolf was here, that his parents had been fighting about it for the past week, or that Henry was so protective of him that Jake felt like he was five years old all over again.
It was frustrating and humiliating. Henry may be older, but Jake was just as good a fighter as he was, and he was twice as good at using magic. Jacob could protect himself, and yet his older brother insisted on sleeping in his bed with him, and barricading the door every night, just in case.
What Jacob especially hated about Henry's protectiveness was that it did make him feel safer. He should be better than this. He wasn't a kid anymore. He shouldn't have to hide behind his older brother just because he had a bad dream
Jake was tired, restless, and he needed a change before he completely lost it. He needed some space from Henry, so he could stop being babied. He needed to get out of the house, and not just for school, so he could have the chance to breathe without worrying about if his parents were going to start yelling again, or if the Wolf was going to turn around and eat them.
What Jake really needed was an adventure, even if it was just to remind himself how strong he was. His dad always said that he thrived when his life was on the line. Not that Jake intended to endanger himself that much. He just needed enough risk to get his heart pumping. He needed to feel the rush of getting away from a threat by the skin of his teeth.
So, not for the first time, Jake pretended to be asleep as he waited for his brother to let his guard down and go to bed. Finally, around two in the morning, Henry was asleep and the house was quiet. Jake climbed out of bed and grabbed his long jacket. He double checked which magical wands and artifacts he had tucked away, and after trading one magic wand in his pocket for a ring on the bedside table, he was ready to go.
Jake's eyes were well-adjusted to the darkness, and he had a lot of practice maneuvering in the shadows of his own home. He was able to effortlessly get downstairs. He made his way to the front door, only to freeze and make a terrified yelp as he saw a figure looming in the shadows.
"You're supposed to be asleep." The familiar and terrifying voice said. Jake didn't think he would ever find the frail voice of an old man intimidating, but he couldn't shake the fear that at any moment the man would transform before his very eyes and eat him alive.
"W-what are you doing down here?" Jake put his hand against his chest to try to ease his pounding heart. A part of him wished that a light was on, so he could just see that the man really was a man right now. The other part of him was glad that it was so dark, because if he was a wolf, at least wouldn't know either way.
"I heard you moving around." The old man said. "From what your mother's told me about you, I thought you would try to sneak out." It was odd. The old man sounded like he was trying to scold him. His tone was similar to how his parents might sound if they were the ones who found him up at this time of night.
The old man's scolding tone made Jake feel a little more relaxed. He could handle people being disappointed in him. That was nothing new. It made it a little easier to convince himself that the Wolf wasn't going to try to eat him.
"I'm just going for a walk." Jake said. He slowly took a step towards the door. When the old man didn't do or say anything to stop him, he took another step. He was soon slowly striding towards the door, keeping a close eye on the Wolf, just in case he struck.
"Relda won't want you out so late." The old man said as Jake reached for the door knob. He felt a shiver go down his spine. There was a warning tone in his voice, and Jake didn't know if the consequence of disobeying was that he'd be grounded, or he'd be eaten.
He took a deep breath and unlocked the door. "She won't even know I'm gone."
"And what makes you think I won't tell her?" The old man asked, and Jake knew just what to say to that.
"Because if you wake her, you'll wake my Dad, and he's not going to give you the chance to explain anything." Jake said. "He'll see I'm gone, he'll think you did something to me, and he'll skin you alive."
The old man growled, and Jake took that as his cue to leave. He unlocked and opened the door, just barely remembering to lock up again as he left. Once outside he leaned against the door, feeling strangely breathless. He needed a break and an adventure, but a late-night confrontation with the Wolf was not what he had in mind.
Jacob gave himself a long minute to calm down before he adjusted his jacket and made his way to the forest. He didn't really have a particular destination in mind. He just wanted to walk around the forest. Maybe there were pixies or gnomes that he could find. An Everafter that hadn't adjusted to human society. Or maybe there were magical artifacts or buried treasure in the woods. That was just the type of adventure he was out here for.
He alternated between walking leisurely and running just for fun. He could hear the sounds of nature around him, with the odd animal and snapping of branches. There might be a predator or two out here, but Jake wasn't the least bit worried. The animals in these forests were just regular beasts. He helped his dad track down and fight monsters every week or so. The Big Bad Wolf was staying in his home. The magic he had would make it far too easy to scare off any fox or bear he might come across.
It made him feel invincible. Logically he knew that the woods could be dangerous at night for anybody, but he couldn't help but feel untouchable.
Jake laughed triumphantly as he climbed over a massive log and jumped down the other end. Nothing could get him out here. There were no frightening Everafters. No overbearing brothers. No arguing parents. It was just him out here in the wilderness. He could almost convince himself that he was the only person in the world.
Jake found himself in a clearing. He decided to practice with some of the magical tools he'd brought out here. What was the point of having access to magic if he didn't use it? And not in a 'just-in-case' way. Jake just didn't understand why his mom thought that magic should only be used as a last resort.
Sure, he could sometimes go too far with his magical pranks, but it also made life so much easier, and it was a lot of fun. What was the point of going out of his way to do things the boring way? Sure, people could learn from trials and pain, but he didn't think he should make things harder on purpose. Jacob didn't know what the harm in trying to make things easier was.
Jacob pulled out an ice ring that he had a hard time controlling. He could harness the powers of ice and snow, but he had a hard time truly controlling them. Summoning a blizzard was all too easy, but what Jake wanted to do was to make a focused ice blast that was properly aimed.
He hadn't made any progress with this particular ring, but he was confident in himself. It was far from the first time that he'd spent hours trying to perfect magic. Despite what his mom seemed to think, he knew that these powers weren't toys, and it wasn't a game. This was a lot of power for one sixteen year old, but that was why he practiced.
Jake fiddled and experimented with the ring for half an hour before he was able to get an ice blast to hit the tree he was aiming for. He'd been able to focus the blasts, and change what kind of ice the ring sent out, but it took him a while to put it all together and really accomplish what he'd set out to do.
He would like to keep practicing, but if he stayed out for too long then his absence would be discovered by his family, and he would be in huge trouble. Besides, with all of the ice he was sending out the air was really chilly, and he was getting cold.
Jacob went to put the ring in his pocket, but it slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up, but accidentally kicked it. It wouldn't normally go too far, but the ground around him was frozen and slick. By the dim light of the moonlight he could see the ring slide away.
"Come on!" Jake lunged for the ring, only to slip on the ice and fall on his butt. It hurt, and was cold, and he could just imagine the way that Henry would laugh at him if he was out here with him.
Jacob sat there for a long moment before he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the ring. Pouting, he put the ring away and stomped off on his way back home. Because he was distracted and frustrated, he didn't really pay attention to his surroundings as he traversed through the woods.
He had underestimated how far spread the ice and cold would get. When he climbed onto a fallen tree to cross a ditch, his foot slipped on the slippery bark and he started to fall headfirst towards the ground.
The ditch was just deep enough that he could hurt himself from a sloppy fall into it, but especially like this. Jake squeezed his eyes shut tight and braced himself for impact. He heard a growl and then he felt a pressure clutch at the jacket on his back. He felt sharp piercing from the pressure, like claws digging into his back. Suddenly he jerked to a stop and found himself dangling several feet from the ground.
"Jacob." He flinched when he heard a growl above him. He looked up to see the old man, except his eyes were a piercing blue. "Reach up and grab my arm."
"...What?" Jacob was trying to wrap his head around the fact that the old man was here. And he felt like he should feel terrified at the claws at his back, but he was just relieved that he'd been caught.
"Do you think you'd be able to land safely from here?" The old man asked irritably. Jake glanced down and shook his head. If it wasn't dark out, he'd be just fine. He couldn't see the uneven ground though, and he could easily twist an ankle by landing wrong. "That's what I thought. Now, grab my arm so I can get a better grip and pull you up."
Jacob felt like his brother would think him insane for even thinking of trusting the Wolf, but their dad always said that weird circumstances required weird decisions. He didn't want to fall, and right now the only thing keeping him from doing just that was the Wolf. He needed to trust him, at least for a minute.
Jake reached his arms up and back. He swung his arms around for a moment before he felt fur. He latched onto it. He got as firm of a grip as he could, not caring if he pulled on the fur at all. He felt a brief moment of panic when the grip on his back loosened, but before he could fall the hold was readjusted so that just his jacket and shirt were gripped, and there were no claws digging into his back.
He sighed in relief as he was pulled up. The old man effortlessly lifted him back onto the log to sit. Only when he was sure he wasn't going to fall again did Jake let go of the old man's furry arm.
Seeing the man was an interesting sight. He looked like he was half-transformed. He was taller than before, and both of his arms from the elbows down were wolfish. Now that Jake was okay he could already see the fur slipping away as the old man turned back into his human self.
"Idiot child." The old man snarled. His voice had a touch of the Wolf in there still, but Jake was surprised to find that he wasn't afraid of him. The Wolf had just saved him. It was hard to be afraid of getting eaten by somebody who had saved him.
"Canis." Jake said in return. The old man just looked confused. Jake smiled. "You know, it's another name for a wolf or a dog, so we all know who you are, but it's not really as beastly as 'Big Bad Wolf'." The Wolf that Jake had grown up hearing about would have never saved anybody. Canis though, he obviously would.
"...You're giving me a name?" The old man just sounded lost and confused, and the legendary Big Bad Wolf shouldn't sound like that. It was just wrong.
"You saved me." Jake said. "It's the least I can do." He gave Canis a stern look that he had picked up from Henry. "I still don't like you though.
"The feeling's mutual." Canis said, though he sounded a little amused. He adjusted his shirt. "Let's get you home before you try again to get yourself killed."
"I would have been fine." Jake crawled across the log, not relaxing until he was back on solid ground.
"You would have split your head open." Canis said.
"And then you would have just carried me home, I guess." Jake sighed, feeling embarrassed. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed that Canis had been following him for who knew how long. "Why'd you follow me? Why didn't you just drag me home? I know you didn't approve of me being out."
"You would have fought back, and I didn't want to give your father any reason to think that I was attacking you." Canis said. "And I can understand the need for fresh air and space." He certainly sounded sympathetic. Seeing the old man, it was easy to forget that he'd been a wild Wolf. Jake knew that more often than not he lived in the woods and avoided people. For the first time Jake wondered why the Wolf had left the woods. Why did he terrorize the town every once and awhile when both the old man and the Wolf seemed to prefer to be left alone?
"What is it like?" Jake asked as they walked home. "To be a wild animal?"
Canis hummed thoughtfully and was quiet for a moment. "I'm still trying to figure it out." Jake had almost forgotten that Canis claimed to not remember his time as the Wolf. That would probably be very confusing, to not just be a lively and spry wolf trapped in the body of a frail old man, but to not have the memories to help him understand why his instincts felt so wrong.
"You're not actually going to eat us, are you?" Jacob hadn't even considered that his mom was right. He still didn't trust the Wolf, but there was a big difference between not trusting somebody and thinking that they were going to devour you whole.
"I'm not sure of many things, but I'm sure of that." Canis said. "I don't eat people…not unless they really deserve it." He said this last part so dryly that Jake didn't know if he was being serious or not. It didn't really make him feel any better. Canis gave him a slightly concerned look. "How is your back?"
Jake rolled his shoulder. He could feel blood dripping down his back, but it wasn't too bad. They weren't scratched, and they weren't all that deep. They stung, but they'd probably stop bleeding by the time they got back home. The deepest injury was to his pride.
"Uh, do you think we can keep this between us?" Jake asked. "I mean, my parents don't really need to know that I snuck out."
"You're a fool if you think your mother doesn't already know." Canis said, and he had a point. Jake sighed, knowing he was right. He was so grounded. Canis gave him a careful look. "If you put the magic in your pocket back where it belongs and stop playing with it, I won't have to tell her about your little fall."
"Deal." Jake said eagerly. He wasn't really supposed to have this magic in the first place. He would gladly give his collection back to Mirror, and then slowly build it back up again, if it meant that his mom didn't start handling him with kid gloves all over again. He could take care of himself. Today had just been a one-time fluke.
Canis held out his hand, and it took Jake a second to figure out that he wanted him to give him his jacket. He rolled his eyes and reluctantly took his jacket off. He handed it over.
Jake didn't know if he would ever fully trust Canis, but he didn't know if he fully trusted anybody, even his brother and parents. He didn't think that he distrusted the old man any more than he distrusted any of the other people in his life.
Maybe it was stupid to stop seeing the man in front of him as a monster, but this past week Canis had done nothing to even hint that he would attack them. He helped Jake's mom in the kitchen. Mirror said that he hadn't once tried to sneak in and steal their magic. He wasn't acting anything like the frightening mindless creature that Jake had grown up hearing about.
Canis understood and respected Jake's need for space, even if he didn't trust him to keep himself safe. Even Jake's family didn't trust him that way. Canis had given him a chance. Maybe Jake could return the favor.
He just hoped nobody else was awake when they got home, because otherwise they would both be in big trouble.